Being Brave part II

"Alright now that we've covered some basics of grammatical error, lets put your new skill to the test." Said Twilight. "I'm going to pretend to write a simple letter to the princess and intentionally make errors to my spelling and grammar, and all you need to do is find out what I did wrong. Sound simple enough?"

A week had now gone by since Cory began his studies with Twilight and his training with Rainbow Dash. But yet, none of his basic skills seemed to improve. He was still struggling to figure how to make out even the simplest problems. It was like trying to solve Quantum and Astrophysics at the same time. His writing skills were also poor, a disadvantage he felt ashamed about. It seemed impossible for him to write down a single sentence without making at least 3 or 4 mistakes. But nonetheless, Twilight and her friends cheered him on for his perseverance with words like: "Good Job," "Great Effort," "You can do it." As he stared at the unchecked scroll, Twilight walked over to him.

"Don't worry Cory." She said as she rubbed him on the back with her hoof. "It's only the first week. I struggled to achieve some my own personal spells for an average three months."

At that moment, a knock was heard downstairs.

"Keep working Cory." She said "I'm gonna see who it is. Oh, and if you're in doubt, remember this mantra: I before E, except after C."

Cory gulped and proceeded with his shaky editing as Twilight trotted down stairs.

She opened the door. It was Mayor Mare on her weekly outing. With her snout rimmed bifocal glasses and her frizzy styled mane, you could've sworn she auditioned as an extra in GREASE or HAIRSPRAY.

"Oh hi Mayor Mare, what brings you here?" Asked Twilight.

"Salutations, Princess Twilight." proclaimed Mayor Mare "I've heard you are a new teacher to somepony, or should I say somebody with a unique talent of yours and was wondering if you'd like to introduce me to him."

"Why certainly Mayor. We were just in the middle of studies and I needed a little break myself."

She escorted her upstairs to where Cory was still struggling as to what to do to fix Twilights letter

"Cory. Can you come here for a second?"

He placed his pencil and walked over to her.

"This is Mayor Mare, the mayor of Ponyville, she's..."

"I'm so sorry, I really didn't do anything wrong, please don't..." Said Cory panically

"Cory." Said Twilight sternly "You don't have to be all panicky anymore. You're among ponies you can trust."

"Sorry." Said Cory solemnly as he pulled himself together.

"Apologies Mayor Mare, he hasn't had the happiest of childhoods and I'm doing the best I can to give him a better life." Said Twilight.

"No problem." Said Mayor Mare. "I've come here to actually ask Cory for a favor."

"What's that?" Asked Cory.

"I have heard about your excellent craftsman skills and was wondering if you'd like to construct a mural for the interior of our town hall."

"It be a great opportunity for you to practice on those measuring techniques I taught you the other day." Said Twilight

"Ok." Said cory with a solemn sigh.

"Great, let me escort him to town hall." Said Mayor Mare.

And with that, the three of them were on their way.

Ponyville town hall was like a Gazebo on steroids. With it's grandiose size and valentines day color scheme, it was no surprise this building was part of the pride and glory of the town. The interior was no less complimentary. it almost had the Gothic style of a chapel. Every spire, flag mast and pole fit for a Sunday mass. Surrounding them were marble walls shrouded by white, blank tapestries as if ready to painted on. At the bottom of each section of floor were silk smocks laid out with dozens of paint and brushes awaiting to be used. Next to them were basic tools needed for measuring and graphing, a subject Cory was still learning the fundamentals of.

"Allright Cory," Said Mayor Mare "The task in which I've bestowed onto you is to paint a series of abstract murals that symbolize what Ponyville means to you. It can be happiness, loyalty, a landscape of the town, a historical moment or a simple scene dealing with friendship. I've set out a few art books for inspiration to get you started. I'll leave you to it."

As the mayor left the scene, Twilight gave him a smock and pointed towards the measuring items on the floor.

"So, do you remember what we covered?" asked Twilight.

"I think so." Said Cory worriedly as he picked up the ruler and protractor. "First, you convert everything to the same units of measure..."

"Right.." Said Twilight

"So If I want to get inspired by something in one of the books," He continued slowly, "I'll have to see how many Feet they are..."

"Good. And Remember." Continued Twilight "Their measurement is always laid out at the bottom of each picture.

Cory skimmed through the pages of one of the books and came across a few paintings that caught his eye. They looked like a combination between a Chagall and Gauguin artwork. This collection of pictures included a family of Pegasus's flying over a town, a landscape of early Ponyville, the first settlers, a group of friends playing together, etc. He looked at the bottom of each picture and saw their actual height measurement. Then, he took out a piece of paper from the ground and divided the inches by 12. This was incredibly hard for him, but not as hard as it used to be. Next he took the ruler and started measuring the tapestries, though they we're obviously too high for him to do such.

"Um, actually," Said Twilight. "Let me help you on this one."

Then she lifted him up with her hooves and slowly flew him to the top of each of the blank canvases as he carried out the measurements. He then wrote down the calculations in a notebook in his pocket as Twilight gently flew him to the floor .

"So, since all the blank canvases are basically the same size, all I have to do is try to make the actual size of the chosen painting equalize the size of the canvas."

"Now you're getting it!" Said Twilight.

Next Cory converted the inches of the painting's actual size into feet and compared it to the blank canvases, to which at that time, with Twilight's flying assistance, he drew with the protractor circles as to where the figures in the painting would be.

"And now, all that needs to be done", Said Cory cautiously, "is to make the paintings fit the measurement of the canvas."

Finally, he carefully calculated the square feet of the paintings, and added the feet needed to have them equalize that of his new masterpiece.

"Is that right?" he asked.

"Yes! well done." complimented Twilight as she gave him a high hoof. "See, you're not bad at math. You just needed guidance from a good friend."

Cory's cheeks blushed as she said this.

"So, do you know what theme you want to do."

Cory looked at his inspirations and nodded.

"Great." Replied Twilight "I'll just step aside and leave you to it. There's a ladder over at the edge of room and I'll be here to catch you in case you fall."

"Thanks." he replied.

And with that, Cory took out a box of charcoal and began to sketch onto the murals whatever came into his mind. At first, he painted a few abstract shapes and colors, almost resembling a Kandinsky artwork. Next applied a few shades and textures with the assistance of a paint sponge. Soon, as he progressed, the series of murals became more and more figurative. Eventually, he laid out the buckets of paint and started covering the space within the charcoal outlines based on their shadings. As his series of paintings began to take form, the rotunda within Ponyville hall grew from an empty ballroom into a work of art. As he was balancing on the ladder putting on the last finishing touches to the last canvas on the end, Cory slipped and fell. Luckily,Twilight flew in and caught him just in time.

"Easy Cory, I got you." She said as she landed him softly to the floor.

"My goodness!" Said Mayor Mare who entered the room. "Th..This is the most amazing series of paintings I have ever seen."

Indeed they were. Every wall was a multicolored tapestry visually chronicling the history of Ponyville and what it meant to be one of its residents. Among them was a Thomas Hart Benton styled mural of a young Granny Smith standing alongside the first settlers of Ponyville. It portrayed them gazing at a vast land of what would eventually become the town everypony became familiar with. Another was a Chagall-esque painting of a pony family playing in the park and doing various activities. What made them distinct was they were Earth ponies who fathered a Unicorn and a Pegasus, representing the rich diversity the town had to offer.
A third one being a theme akin to Seurat and Manet where various Ponies of both high society and humble dwelling mingled with each other at an unspecified cocktail party. This obviously showed how Ponyville accepted anypony regardless of how rich or poor their background was. There was even an abstract Kandinsky-esque artwork that obviously didn't have any meaning to it, but still tied everything else together.

"Princess Twilight." Continued Mayor Mare. "Your human student truly captures the essence of what Ponyville means to its citizens. Would you mind if we gave him a medal of his various contributions to our town?"

"Well Mayor Mare." Chuckled Twilight. "I think that's for the artist to decide."

Cory was stunned to hear this. No one had ever given him an award before. In fact, he would be surprised if anyone congratulated him for something. But then again, he was in a world different from his own, and he had new friends that supported him every step of the way. So, without even thinking he nodded in approval. The Mayor gleefully rushed towards a nearby room and presented him with an open box. inside it was a golden, sparkling medal that read "HONORARY PONY" engulfed by circling figures of what appeared to be a Pegasus, Unicorn, and an Earth Pony. Cory took a moment to look at it and saw his reflection in the medals golden tint. For a fleeting moment, he could've sworn he saw a Pony instead of a human. Then, as he looked back up, he found himself surrounded by many other members of the mayor's working cabinet clapping with their hooves. In front of him was a podium with a microphone for him to speak on. Cory gulped at the sight of this, since he was terrible at giving speeches.

"Well don't just stand there." Said Twilight. "Go up and say something."

At first, he shuddered back. But then Twilight magically levitated him off the ground and onto the podium. There he was, surrounded by prominent members of Ponyville government. What was he to say? What was he to do? He was just standing there, with no clue as to how to introduce himself. Soon, he started to hear murmuring amongst the crowd, and saw a worried look from Twilight. Might as well get this over with he thought to himself.

He slowly approached the Mic with the medal clutched into his hand. He opened his mouth as leaned towards the audience and started to speak. But it was more like muttering and stuttering instead of words.

"I...I...I'm really.....touched" He stammered "...T...t...get th..get this...this...this...award..." But he was too stage frightened. And on top of that, he couldn't think of the right words to come out of his mouth.

Finally tears started to stream down his eyes. He knew in his mind that if he stayed up there any longer, everypony would laugh at him. So he left the podium and marched out of the door. He never felt so embarrassed in all his life.